500 Green Hill trees to be removed because of Asian longhorned beetles

Tuesday

Jul 8, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Some 500 trees lining a section of the Green Hill Golf Course are slated for removal as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's efforts to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle.

Clint McFarland, program director for the USDA's fight against the beetle here, characterized the work that will be done along Green Hill Avenue and up Colby Avenue to the corner of Trinity Avenue as a "high-risk host removal," meaning the trees are very susceptible to infestation. He said 11 of the largest infested trees along the stretch were already removed earlier this year, and said the push to remove the vulnerable trees nearby comes after a pocket of trees was removed between nearby Marsh Avenue and Andrews Avenue, also earlier this year.

Mr. McFarland said his office has been in constant communication with the city government about the plans to remove the trees, and said the city signed off on the removals Monday. He said he estimated the removals will start in late July and go into early August.

He said the trees slated for removal total around three acres and 5,000 "diameter at breast height" inches. He said the largest infested trees already removed in the area averaged 30 to 40 inches in diameter; the remainder of the trees that will be removed average 10 inches in diameter or less.

"It's small or intermediary material," Mr. McFarland said.

Still, cutting down 500 trees along that stretch will remove a vegetative barrier between the golf course and the neighborhood, and Mr. McFarland said the decision to remove a large number of trees is never taken lightly.

He said many of the trees slated to be removed along Green Hill Avenue and Colby Avenue are still broken up from the 2008 ice storm. When climbers can't get high into the trees for a full inspection, the recommendation is typically for the high-risk host removal. Most of the trees are Norway maples, he said.

The beetle was discovered in the area in 2008 in Greendale; since then, a regulated area has been set up that includes the entire city and several surrounding towns. The Asian longhorned beetle, believed to have arrived from China in shipping crates, bores holes into the trees and eventually kills them. It has a particular appetite for maples.

Thousands of trees have been removed as part of the USDA's efforts to prevent the beetle's spread across the hardwood forests of the Northeast, but Mr. McFarland said he believes progress is being made. He said only 232 infested trees have been removed this year.

In the meantime, surveying continues inside and outside the regulated area, Mr. McFarland said. One thousand traps have been set throughout Worcester County, and Mr. McFarland said contractors and USDA staff have surveyed in Sterling, Northboro and Millbury without finding any signs of the beetle.

He said that even without major infestations making headlines, residents have been diligent about spotting the beetle and understanding about tree removal. He said this year alone his office has received thousands of phone calls from people on the lookout for the beetle. A lot of those calls are from people who mistake other bugs for the Asian longhorned beetle, but Mr. McFarland said he appreciates that people take the time to report what they're seeing. It shows they're engaged, he said. And he noted that the removals between Marsh and Andrews earlier this year involved obtaining written consent from 17 of 20 residents who were affected.

"People have been terrific up there," Mr. McFarland said.

Paul J. Moosey, commissioner of Public Works and Parks, and Robert Antonelli, assistant commissioner of public works and parks, could not be immediately reached for comment late Monday afternoon.